I don't know whether to laugh or cry.I recently found out about a crayon recycling program called Crazy Crayons.But...How many broken crayons have I tossed into the trash?Hundreds? At least.

This program takes old and broken crayons, with the wrappers still on, and recycles them into mixed-color crazy crayons.

One woman, LuAnn Foty, is to thank for developing this program and "saving over 34,000 lbs of unwanted crayons" according to the website. And, buying Crazy Crayons helps the program continue, and make great gifts!

Lil Green tip:shipping one large box uses less material and will cost less than shipping lots of smaller boxes.

I'm headed off to the farmer's market with a little green gift from my eco-friendly mom. It's an Envirosax and it's waaaay cute, very functional, and green!

These lightweight, water-proof, reusable bags fold up into a tiny pouch that fits easily into my purse. I'm already a fan of the reusable grocery bags and I leave a stash of them in my car. But there are often times I forget to grab them and they certainly don't fold up this small.

My Envirosax will come in handy at the market,at the fair (to carry all those horrible prizes my husband likes to win),at the pool (to carry home wet suits),just about anywhere!

I know these have been around for awhile. But it's got a new use for me. Every time the power went out it was a struggle between my kids wanting to feel comfortable by having their own flashlight,and me wanting to save the batteries because this could be "the big one" - you know, the one power outage that lasts days and there's a run on C and D batteries and flashlights.

And then I found these. Originally a gift for my husband (who can NEVER find a flashlight when he needs one), they quickly turned into toys for my kids. They love it when the power goes off now. They love playing in a dark basement (saves some electricity for me!). They love to crank the handle and charge them up.

And I don't fret about the batteries.It's a win-win. Only my husband loses...his gift is no longer really his.But now I know what to get him for his birthday :).

OK, not your typical cry for joy, but it's the little things that make me happy.My county NOW recycles butter and margarine tubs among other items that we all thought were recycled but really weren't.For years just about everyone I know who recycles has thrown in all kinds of plastic items including peanut butter jars, yogurt containers, mayo jars, salad bar plastic containers, and margarine tubs...all of which were NOT accepted.

So what happens to all that stuff? Some poor soul is tasked with pulling it off the conveyor belt at our local recycling center. I only learned this when I volunteered to do a recycling contest at my children's preschool. Once I started telling people, I realized not one person actually knew that there were things that couldn't be recycled!

So while everyone thought they were doing a good deed tossing in all that plastic, in reality, they were creating much more work for someone.

Today, all that has changed. I saw not one, but several small ads promoting the fact that those items previously mentioned (and more) can be recycled.

So a little green pat on the back to to the person in Montgomery County government who recognized there's a lot more plastic coming in, and finding a way to recycle it.

If you aren't sure what your local recycling center accepts, check their website. Need help finding a recycling center or a place to take "unacceptable" items? Visit this site: earth911.org for a very cool recycling search tool!